The Coffee's Never Strong Enough

Good evening, my dear friend. As you can see, I'm up very late again. All day it seems to me that something's pulling at me from the outside. A force penatrating my spirit, leaving me uneasy. Laying in bed I realized the need to create and communicate to help ward off this sensation. I get like this every now and again: unsure and emotional. Sometimes I joke that it's my "man period."

I don't ever really know what brings it one, but I have my guesses. Big changes in friendships and work are to come, as well as several side projects. As you know, I've decided to take place in National Novel Writing Month in November. It approaches faster than I think I'm ready for. Such a huge undertaking, and I can't even figure out the name of the main character. I'll figure out, haha. I think that's part of the beauty of NaNoWriMo: you have to just do. Making the best novel isn't the point. The point is to finish one in 30 days. That means that all involved have to write over 2,000 words every day. In that time, there is no chance to second guess.

This will be very good for me, I think. Not being able to obsess and perfect something; just to finish it. I'm already building playlists, thinking of overarching themes and settings, an trying to get as prepared as possible for it. I think that's one reason I've been talking so much about music to you. Trying to get my descriptive muscles moving. I really wish I could type as fast as my brain can think! Just imagine all the work I could get done.

I doubt that the novel I write will ever be available for publication, but I really think that it would give me the self confidence to be able to get the other ideas I want to share with the world out into publication. It's a step. And that's one thing I've really been working on in my personal life: taking that first step. Many times for me, that's the hardest part. Of course, that then leads to the next hardest part: the follow through. Workout routines have never really worked out for me because I lack the effort to follow through. Then again, I really hate physical exercise. You get my idea, though.

I really think that's life, though. You take a step, and it's the most difficult thing you've had to do. Then, you take the next step, and it's just as hard - if not more so. Most people give up when they reach that second barrior in something new. Maybe the third or fourth. Somehow, though, I have got to know that it's worth it. It's worthwhile to overcome and move on to new and unseen territory.

That's sort of why I'm excited for NaNoWriMo. It's something I've always wanted to do, it's something to overcome. It's a way to rid myself of all of this unwanted creative dark matter. It just swirls inside me, a biproduct of the human existance. I have to find new ways to let it out in productive and beautiful ways. If I don't, it bottles up and tends to force itsself out in ugly and... unfortunate ways.

At any rate, I've been very excited to pen an idea that I've been working for the past few weeks. When I decided to take on a novel, I had to decide if I wanted to choose from a list of ideas I'd already thought about, or if I would do something new. I chose the latter, for the thrill of it. Well, mostly that if it was very terrible, it wouldn't be an idea that I held dear to me and I might be able to just chuck it out the window!

The concept that I'm running with now is heavily inspired by the works of HP Lovecraft, though I doubt that we'll see any of his universe show up. Just general ideas, themes, and vague images that give me inspiration. I was reading one of his stories before bed and this idea really jumped at me. To paraphrase, any hack can draw a scary image for the cover of a magazine. Only a true artist can make a creation that causes a stirring in us, that speaks to the unconcious portion of the brain. That's because the artist has had direct contact with the reality of what they're conveying through their chosen medium.

Those words really got me thinking. I have to portray this story in a realistic way, a way that sounds more like memory than imagination. I think if I come at the novel with that approach, I'll already have a much more quality piece of work. I think my general concept is that the novel will be a tome, written by a high priest of an ancient god that has invaded the modern world. The story will be almost a history that the god has instructed the priest to set to paper as a testiment to its greatness. How the twenty-first century found itsself crippled in a matter of days to a force it couldn't comprehend.

It's a bit rough, I'll admit. But it's something to work with, and I'm grateful for it. With those thoughts, it's probably time for me to turn in. Goodnight, my dear friend.

Practically Dope

Good evening friend.

It's good to be around again. I am so excited that October is upon us, you have no idea! The weather has swung into fall mode: mid 50s and drizzly during the day and chilly, chilly nights. I thoroghly enjoy my walks to work this time of year.

I did take a few days off of life and work due to a sickness, but I'm back on the road of life eager as can be! I'm planning out the novel I am writing this year for National Novel Writing Month in November, and I'm getting some great ideas. This will be my first year doing it, but I've got some great buddies going along for the ride.

I just roasted another batch of coffee and got all of my dishes caught up (my least favorite chore), and now I'm all pumped and ready to get more done around my apartment... at two in the morning. My guess is that my neighboors wouldn't appreciate that too much. So I decided to sit down and write a bit.

What I'm very much excited for tonight relates to one of my favorite past times: tabletop gaming. I discovered upon logging into the internet today that one of my favorite games, Elder Sign, has an expansion on the way! This game takes place in the same universe as Arkham Horror (rereleased in 2005  by Fantasy Flight games) universe. Much of the theme and content derives from the works of H. P. Lovecraft and his contemperaries. It features a heavy horror theme mixed with science and the incomprehensable nature of the universe in which we live. Elder Sign is sometimes reffered to as Arkham Horror lite because you get a bit of the Lovecraftian horror elements in half to a third of the time as Arkham Horror (I've spent five to six hours playing Arkham Horror before).  If you want a quick demo on Elder Sign in play this episode of Tabletop is a great introduction.

I've picked up about half of the eight expansions available for Arkham Horror, and the only expansion available for Elder Sign. And now this! I was concerned that Fantasy Flight (who also publishes Elder Sign) wouldn't release another expansion to Elder Sign. It's been over a year since the last expansion came out and they are actively adding expansions to another game, Eldritch Horror (also in the Arkham Horror universe). I took this to be a sad sign that Elder Sign would just be set on the shelf with just the one expansion.

Don't get me wrong, I love the first expansion for Elder Sign. It adds a lot of new cards, as well as a couple of new mechanics that change the game, but not drastically enough to make it difficult to pick up. Now Fantasy Flight has announced a new expansion due out in the first quarter of 2015: Gates of Arkham. In this press release they talk a lot about what the new expansion will offer.

It looks like the defining component of the game is called Streets of Arkham Mode. Now, in Elder Sign, you play as an investigator looking for clues about the Ancient Evil threat. You go through rooms of a museum gathering useful items and clues on how to lock away the Ancient One using Elder Signs. In the new Streets of Arkham Mode, it seems to me that the investigators will now be able to go into the town of Arkham and have adventures there. This mode features a new deck of encounter cards as well as beefs up decks from the base game. It does appear, however, that several things from the base game won't be compatable with this new mode of gameplay.

For me, this begs the question: why change the basic components in an already good game when you could just release another game? It could be Elder Sign: Arkham Edition. From what it looks like so far, that almost seems like an easier solution than cramming more elements and locations from Arkham Horror into an expansion. That aside, I'm super pumped for this expansion. I'm a huge fan of the Lovecraft mythos and theme, and I love the way Elder Sign encorperates it. Fantasy Fight will be demoing the new expansion at a few events they have coming up in October and I really wish I could go see what it will be like.

I cannot wait until the first quarter of 2015. That could be March! Ah! Sigh. It'll be okay. I'll be sure to tell you about it the moment I can preorder it. Until then, I'll be re-reading this press release a few more times to see what other details I can glean from it.

Oh, and I'm listening to Dope off of Lady Gaga's most recent album. I've heard her joint album with Tony Bennett so much recently that I pulled out Artpop and gave it a listen. This song seemed strangely appropriate for this blog. What can I say? We all have our vices.

Have a great night, my friend.